Liberty Township Mayor John Inscho shook his head. He couldn't believe that for the fourth consecutive time in two years, The Lodge, a township-owned former restaurant on Mountain Lake, failed to sell at auction.

"I understand the times and the economy and the way things are," Inscho said. "It's just a shame. I'm disappointed."

No bidders came to offer even a minimum bid of $250,000 at the auction tonight. At a scheduled committee workshop held afterward, Inscho addressed the more than 30 residents scattered among the former restaurant's wood-paneled dining room at 11 Lakeside Drive East, and apologized.

"I don't know what the answer is," Inscho said. "We're here, we're trying to do the best we can and it didn't happen.

"I'm sorry."

Inscho said he was told personally that several interested parties would be bidding for the property, which includes the building and décor, as well parking areas next to the building and across the street.

The township committee was frustrated when none showed up, but understands the predicament.

"We would all love to see this place open," Committeeman Mark Tibak said. "But we're not in this alone. There are a lot of businesses that are just not open. It's not just us that are faced with this challenge."

Inscho said committee members will reconvene and determine whether to lower the asking price, or change their approach to selling the property.

Township officials bought the lakeside property in 2006 for $430,000. The township kept an area across Lakeside Drive East, the beach and picnic area next to The Lodge. It planned to sell the restaurant for private use.

A successful bidder won the first auction held in August 2009 but was unable to close the deal. At the second auction in 2010, the committee rejected the final bid, which fell well below the township's asking price. And the third auction, like tonight, drew no bidders.

Betty Russell, 79, who lives in Dallas, Texas, has great memories of the former restaurant from growing up on Mountain Lake, but knows that as the times change, so does the scenery.

"Good times don't last forever," Russell, who lives at the lake in the summer, said at the auction. "You think they're going to, but they don't."